Cowboys go from bad to worse, and what else we’re learning in Week 9

Falcons: Atlanta is pulling away from the NFC South pack on the shoulders of Kirk Cousins, who threw for three touchdowns against the Cowboys. He picked apart an ailing Dallas defense and looked firmly in control of his new team. Who knew Cousins, who suffered his Achilles injury weeks later than Aaron Rodgers last season, would return to form much quicker (and better) than the guy the Jets went all-in on? The Falcons have a lot of versatility offensively, and their defense under Raheem Morris is doing enough, despite not being able to get pressure to save their lives. That will have to improve as the season goes on if the Falcons want to have any sort of postseason viability, but for now, Cousins has this team rolling. — Carmen Vitali

Giants: It’s time for the Giants to bench quarterback Daniel Jones. Their offensive mess isn’t all his fault, but at this point, he’s not helping them out. And since he clearly has no future with the team anymore, they may as well give backup Drew Lock a look. Head coach Brian Daboll briefly made that switch a week ago in search of a “spark.” Now it’s time to give Lock a full week of prep and see if he can jolt the offense next week in Germany against the Carolina Panthers. It’s the perfect soft spot, right before the bye week. Jones (20-of-26, 174 yards) wasn’t terrible. He did throw two touchdown passes. But one was basically in garbage time and those were his first in four games. The passing game has no energy. The Giants’ season is over. It’s time to move on. — Ralph Vacchiano
 

Drake Maye finds Rhamondre Stevenson in the end zone to force OT

Titans: This Titans season still isn’t going anywhere, but their defense may have just taken the first step to becoming great. The unit had a season-high three takeaways in its 20-17 victory. Tennessee had just three on the year entering Sunday, one of the few things holding it back. The Titans’ 52-14 loss last week aside (a loss in which special teams was a primary culprit), Tennessee has been respectable in points allowed and a top-three team in yards allowed. The issue has been taking the ball away and delivering big stops in big moments. If they start doing that consistently, the Titans are suddenly a much more competitive team down the stretch, regardless of how the offense looks — even if playing deep into January still seems unreasonable. — Ben Arthur

Bengals: You didn’t write off the Bengals at 1-4, did you? Cincinnati has now won three of four, and Joe Burrow is looking like vintage Joe Burrow, throwing for five touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Raiders. The Bengals’ four wins are against the Panthers, Giants, Browns and Raiders — not exactly Murderers’ Row — but they’re now 4-5 and very much in playoff contention. Chase Brown had his best game of the season, rushing for 120 yards, and the defense is rounding into form as well, albeit against lesser opponents. Getting a win Thursday night at Baltimore would be huge to validate their midseason turnaround, but even with a loss there, don’t count these Bengals out of the wild-card chase. — Greg Auman

Ravens: Let’s talk about GM Eric DeCosta, who should be in the conversation for Executive of the Year. The defense isn’t a masterpiece, but the offense is incredible. DeCosta elected to bring in veteran Derrick Henry, who has delivered on the hype. Henry is a reminder that running backs matter. He makes Baltimore unbeatable when it has a lead. DeCosta also made the tough decision to swap out a handful of offensive line starters, and the unit has figured out how to make things work. But that has enabled the team to keep adding skill players. Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman are a serviceable pass-catching group when paired with tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews. But DeCosta didn’t settle for serviceable at wideout. After seeing last week that the receiver room could be a fatal flaw, DeCosta traded for Diontae Johnson, who might be the kind of piece that tips the scale in the AFC Championship. — Henry McKenna

Bills: It’s going to be hard to vote against Josh Allen for MVP if he keeps playing like he did on Sunday with a relatively unimpressive core of receivers. It wasn’t a huge game, but he went 25-of-39 for 235 yards by spreading the ball around to eight players while his top receiver, Amari Cooper, sat out with an injury. Allen did throw an interception to go with his three touchdown passes, but it was only his second of the year. He won’t get a lot of praise for his overall performance, but look at his supporting cast. He’s the one who keeps getting them in position to win games, and they are absolutely running away with the AFC East. — Ralph Vacchiano

Panthers: For Carolina fans, this is what you’ve been waiting to see from Bryce Young for a year and a half. Nothing amazing, but a solid, all-around game and a great drive to win a tight ballgame in front of the home fans. A third-and-10 conversion to rookie Xavier Legette, then a pass-interference penalty to set up Chuba Hubbard’s go-ahead touchdown. The Panthers have had so little to cheer about in the past year or two, but this was a division win to celebrate. And as wild as it is to say, they might not be the worst team in the NFC South this season. Just the same, if they can get a pick for Hubbard or Jadeveon Clowney or (it’s hard to say this with a straight face) Miles Sanders, they’re better off with picks moving forward. — Greg Auman

Browns: A week after a big win over Baltimore, Cleveland returned to looking like a broken and undisciplined team that could be making vacation plans in a few weeks. Jameis Winson, who threw for 334 yards in last week’s win over the Ravens, came back down to earth in a humbling loss to the Chargers. He had the three picks, took six sacks — he was under duress most of the game from a pass rush led by Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack — and had a 50.5 QB rating. But it was what else the Browns did that was more concerning: They gave up two long touchdowns due to busted coverages in the secondary, allowed a long punt return and had a field goal blocked. All that makes last week seem like an aberration for Cleveland. — Eric D. Williams